


Freedom

by Shells



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Growing Up, Manipulative Dumbledore, Slowly Going AU...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 14:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3123941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shells/pseuds/Shells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Freedom isn't always the easiest thing.  Not the easiest thing to achieve, and not the easiest thing to define either.  Nobody ever said growing up was easy to do.  Sometimes the smallest things can cause the biggest changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freedom

 

         Harry struggled to keep his eyes open as he worked his way through the dense tome in front of him. This particular legal book was proving to be particularly useful, however that didn’t mean it was any easier to read or understand. As far as he could tell, magical Britain’s laws were about as tangled and unclear as the laws of muggle Britain; meaning that even lawyers had to pick a specialty in order to be able to master even a fraction of the system. It was a very peculiar type of insanity. However, it was insanity that he was steadily making his way through, and he needed only a few more details confirmed – with appropriate references of course. Which was inevitable after all. He’d started this research project during his first year at Hogwarts.

         One of the books he’d grabbed during that first shopping trip with Hagrid had been a book on the defeat of the Dark Lord Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry never did manage to finish it. It read like a fairy tale about the Evil Dark Lord and the miraculous powers of the Hero Boy-Who-Lived. It was completely ridiculous and gave Harry an understanding of why he’d been given a greeting like he had in the Leaky Cauldron- if everyone had read that they were expecting a marvelous hero. Who could – at a year old! – trade witty remarks with the Evil Dark Lord before using ancient magicks of yore to banish him forevermore.

         Despite it’s numerous flaws, the book did have one thing that managed to catch and keep Harry’s interest. In the very first chapter it mentioned “Harry was the firstborn son of James Potter, and Heir of the ancient House of Potter.” Use of the word ancient would normally be passed over as a matter of dry and dusty history, and therefore automatically boring beyond belief. But this was different, this refered to a family history, and Harry found his attention caught.

         Maybe this could result in knowing what his grandparents names were. Where they lived and what jobs they had. An ancient family history caught his imagination. Maybe one of his ancestors had been a knight who had fought dragons (they were real you know!). Or perhaps the family was known for some unique skill or talent. He had resolved to look for such information as soon as possible once he arrived at Hogwarts.

         The results of his search had been slightly disappointing. It had taken until almost Halloween before he had managed to locate any information at all, and even then it was only a brief mention. The Ancient House of Potter was, apparently, not terribly notable at all.

         There were many books in the library about the Ancient & Noble houses, as they were the cream of society, and their heads held seats in the Wizengaumt. Which meant that they basically made up the wizard’s House of Lords – a far more influential position than it would be in the muggle government. Members of ancient and noble houses had exceptions written into the laws just for them, and could get away with things no-one else could. It certainly explained why Malfoy’s father could just walk away from the charges of being a Death Eater. But ancient houses – of which there were hundreds – fell into the middle class - middle ground of society.

         All of which meant that there were no history books about his family. On the other hand it meant that he had more rights than having a muggleborn mother would normally have allowed him.

         By this point (January–ish of first year) Harry had given up on the idea of ever finding out if his ancestors had fought dragons. It was probably best left to the imagination. But Harry’s attention had been caught by something else anyway.

\--------

         Harry had long been aware that he was stuck with the Dursleys. They were his last living relatives, and undocumented neglect was not enough for legal intervention. But in the Wizarding world an heir to an ancient house had some special rights and prividgles. Maybe there was something to be done after all. And so that was the beginning of Harrys epic research project.

         Said research project would probably have been left by the wayside if it had been up to Harry. There were far more interesting and exciting things to be done at Hogwarts than to sit around in a library all day. For instance, Hagrid had a dragon! But by that point Harry and Ron had become friends with Hermione, who regularly dragged them into the library to study and research. What it was that Hermione researched all the time was a mystery to Harry (probably a little bit of everything judging by the sheer number of books), but Ron had used the time well. It was 5th year and Ron was now an expert on any aspect of Quidditch you could care to ask about.

         And Harry, well, Harry had slowly but surely made his way through a large selection of historical and legal tomes in search of any laws or customs that could apply to children of an ancient house. He’d worked his way through multiple options. Custody wasn’t something he could challenge, the wizarding world was big on family and blood-kin. A straight emancipation was out too – to be recognized as an adult early he had to have an heir; usually a cousin from his father’s side, but he was sadly lacking in those. Exceptions due to family magic, financial necessity, contract betrothal, and others had all been likewise eliminated.

         All that was left was a last-of-line clause, which would have him declared an adult as long as he had passed at least one OWL. He’d be able to file the paperwork with the ministry as soon as the tests had been taken (two weeks to go!), and he was re-checking his references to make sure he’d gotten all the details right. The ministry was, after all, known to get nit-picky on the details of things they didn’t approve of. This waiting was probably the worst.

 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

         Harry ducked in to the common room with his book-bag slung over his shoulder, and a full half-hour to spare until curfew. He quickly spotted Hermione and Ron over at one of the study alcoves. How they’d managed to make it back before him he didn’t know, but at least this guaranteed him a seat in the rapidly filling common room. Friday nights were never quiet, and this close to the end-of-year exams the common room was likely to stay full until the very early hours of the morning as everyone tried to get their last minute studying in.

         “Harry, over here.” Hermione waved as she spotted him in return. “The Prefect meeting let out early.” She explained as he approached.

         “Mostly as Prof. McGonagall had the schedule for the career counseling meetings already written up, so she just handed them out and then set us free.” Ron added, over her shoulder. “ I think she was more concerned with the fact that Umbritch is going to be sitting in on some of them.”

        “Ron” Hermione elbowed him and looked like she was about to start in on him again as Harry settled in to the bench seat across from them. Hermione paused and looked at Harry carefully. “Are you alright there?” She inquired- “Only, you look rather exhausted.”

         Harry supposed that he probably did look rather tired. He certainly felt tired. “It’s not…” he paused, “I’m not tired per say. Just, you know, a lot stressed about the OWL exams, and the D.A., and Sirius and all. That and I still haven’t been getting much sleep because of, you know…” He trailed off.

         Ron got an expression of comprehension, and leaned forward to glance furitively around. “Have you heard anything from- um, Padfoot- recently?”

         “Not really.” Harry slumped further in his seat. “At least, nothing new. He’s still at headquarters. Nobody knows what dreams about a long hallway could possibly mean. I’m supposed to continue keeping my head down, and stay out of Umbitch’s way. Blah, blah, nothings changed.” He gave a wry smile at his friends- “At least next year’s DADA teacher can’t be worse than what we’ve got now, right?”

         “No!” Ron laughed, “The only one I could think of that would be worse is Snape, so we’re safe on that; Headmaster Dumbledore would never let him have the position. He’s stopped that from happening for years now.”

         “Besides, it’s not like he could teach two classes at once.” He added after half a moment’s thought.

         All three of them shared a look of horror as they thought about Snape teaching both DADA and Potions. Well, they shared a brief moment of horror until Hermione remembered herself and began to get them organized for tonight’s marathon study session. Her mania for scheduling had really gotten worse the closer they got to the actual OWLs exams. It was coming in handy however- by the time they actually took the exams they’d have reviewed everything they had covered since first year. Despite the shared terror with which both Ron and Harry viewed the study marathons, they would probably end up being incredibly well prepared for the OWLs.

 

_____

 

         Harry was relieved when Ron finally blew a fuse 2 hours later. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could study and still learn anything. At least this time it was Ron who ended the study session, not him.

         “Well, what do you suggest we do?” Hermione asked acidly. She was clearly not at all thrilled to be interrupted in her recitation one of the potions interactions tables.

         “Don’t care.” Ron replied flatly as he thudded his head down on to the table. “It’s not like this will be something that I’ll use once we graduate. It’s not like the Cannons will care how well I do on my Potions OWL after all.”

         Harry winced to himself. If anything was going to get Hermione going it would be Ron’s plans for professional quidditch. She had an entire rant about it- one that they had already heard multiple times. Hermione was of the opinion that they should have enough OWLs (and NEWTs) to qualify for at least 3 different jobs. A plan, a backup plan, and a fallback plan was how she had described it once. Counting on becoming a professional athlete was not a valid plan in her books, and failing to succeed in educational goals was apparently akin to heresy.

         Ron could have said just about anything else and have been less likely to piss Hermione off. Given how stressed they all were it wasn’t exactly surprising that he was picking at her weak spots. All the back and forth sniping that had been going on all year was flaring up again as exams approached.

         He was therefore surprised when Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a gusty sigh, restraining herself from making any comment to Ron’s assertation. Ignoring Ron completely she turned instead to Harry. “I trust” she said, thumping her potions reference text closed, “that you will be going in to your career meeting with something other than quidditch player on your list.”

         Harry let out a slight smile that was born of relief – she was going to let that go. “Well, quidditch player is on the list, just kinda low down on it. I was sort of thinking about becoming an Auror.” Ron’s head rose from the table in interest at that.

         “Oh! Of course.” Hermione was still clearly ignoring Ron. “You are great at Defense – and solid enough in your other classes, I suppose.” She tilted her head, thinking about it for a minute. “You’d probably have to do better in Potions though. Professor McGonagall will tell you the same, you know. Do you have an idea for a backup plan? The ministry doesn’t like you all that much right now. There’s always independent security jobs though, Gringotts hires wizards for security at their digs in Egypt after all.” She looked like she was going to continue, and then clearly restrained herself again.   “Do you have a third option? Just in case being an Auror doesn’t work out?” She asked instead.

         Harry was impressed. There was a time Hermione would have listed all the defense related jobs she knew of and the qualifications needed for each. She’d done a lot of maturing over this last school year. Well, maturing in regards to holding back the information overflow she could let loose on anyone nearby. Not so much maturing in her interactions with Ron though.

         “Umm, my backup plan was…” Harry hesitated, then decided to just go for it. “You know how I’ve done all that research about how to get away from the Dursleys? I’m pretty much an expert by now. I’d thought, well, that’s a lot of legal knowledge, right. So maybe I could be a lawyer, or barrister or something. Specialty in child custody law, or maybe laws applying to ancient houses...” He bit his lower lip as he trailed off. This was the first time he’d broached this particular idea of his, and he didn’t know how well it would go over with his friends.

         Hermione gazed at him levelly and hummed to herself as she thought it through. “That’s not bad actually. You really have done an awful lot of research on it over the years. I don’t know what OWLs you’d need though. It’s not something I’ve looked in to. You should bring it up to Professor McGonagall. She probably has some information on what you’d need.” She nodded to herself, and looked approving that Harry had at least thought this through.

         Harry smiled at her – that had gone over better than he’d thought it would. “Well, it was just an idea. What about you? Have you narrowed it down to 3 main choices?” He teased, referring to the stack of pamphlets she’d been going through for the last week. “Or perhaps you’ll join the office of beings and creatures at the ministry, so that you can work towards house-elf rights from within the ministry?”

         And that was all it took. She was off, going on about the numerous options she had to choose from, with occasional side discourses on the ridiculous staffing in certain departments in the ministry, and the sad state of house-elves all over.

         Ron used the distraction to escape, and made a straight line over to where Lavender was gossiping on one of the couches. Hermione didn’t even notice, and Harry settled himself in to listen to Hermione’s career decision-making process.

 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

         Harry couldn’t seem to get a word in edge-wise. The Career meeting with Professor McGonagall had started off well enough, with the expected interruptions from Professor Umbridge, but as soon as he had mentioned the possibility of becoming an Auror everything had gone to hell. Maybe Hermione was right about not working for the Ministry of Magic. Umbridge was quite vehement that he would not qualify as an Auror- and despite being an unholy terror, she was fairly highly ranked.

 

         He continued musing on the subject as the conversation went on around him without his input. Apparently his opinion was not actually needed here. The moment he had mentioned wanting to be an Auror his input had effectively ceased. Professor McGonagall kept trying to draw him in, followed by Umbridge’s scathing denials of any possibility of a chance. This was not exactly the career counseling session he had pictured. Well, he was getting a lot of real life advice.

 

         He flinched as Professor Umbridge stridently declared that the Ministry would never employ him. That was- well, never employ him at all was quite different than never employ him as an Auror. That eliminated, well almost every pamphlet that Hermione had read through in the last weeks was for a job employed by the Ministry in some fashion. Hell, even Charlie Weasley’s dragon reserve was a part of the Ministry of Magic. (The control of dangerous magical creatures office funded reserves for several species.)

 

         Even those jobs that weren’t directly a part of the Ministry were often under the Ministry’s operational control. Even the director of St.Mungo’s hospital was appointed by the Minister. The league Quidditch teams were owned by individuals, so they were still a possibility. The National Team, however was paid for by, yep- the Ministry of Magic. No matter how good a player he was he would never play in the World Cup. Which meant that most team owners would be reluctant to have him on their teams. A quidditch career would never actually go anywhere. Being blackballed by the Minister of Magic effectively ended 90% of the jobs available to him.

 

         Professor McGonagall was insisting that there could be a new Minister by the time that he applied, but Harry found himself skeptical. He would be graduating from Hogwarts in 2 years, and the current political climate had been building for decades. His historical studies had shown a firm climb in traditionalism and pureblood values over the last 70 years. The current heads of the Ancient & Noble houses were older, conservative, and set in their ways. Minister Fudge, for all his idiocy, really did represent them and their head in the sand mentality quite well. Even if - miraculously – Voldemort was defeated, and the Minister forced to acknowledge the defeat; Harry’s chances of an Auror career were probably still nil.

 

         Umbridge was sure to report this session back to the Minister as soon as she got back to her office. Any paperwork needed to blackball him from a future ministry career would be filled out this evening. It was perhaps a little defeatist of him, but he literally had no chance. Maybe if he’d never studied history, politics, or law he would have believed Professor McGonagall. If all he had learned had been what Professor Binns covered then he might have been deluded into thinking he had a chance. But he had done that research, years of it, and he knew that the Ministry simply didn’t change that quickly. It was a slow, ponderous, methodical beast of an institution, and being blackballed by one Minister would carry over to the next. Unless they went through 2 or 3 different Ministers in the next 2 years, Harry was screwed.

 

         “Professor?” He asked after Professor McGonagall announced the end of his career consultation. “If being an Auror looks, um, dubious, are there any jobs that are similar? Only not at the Ministry? Maybe working for the ICW or something?”

 

         Umbridge hissed out a breath at that, turning if possible, even redder in the face. “Run away would you? They wouldn’t have you anyway – as I stated before, your Defense grades –“

 

         She was cut off mid-sentence by Professor McGonagall. “Are of no matter as long as you do well on your OWLs, as I am sure you will.” Professor McGonagall looked ready to pick another fight. “Besides, you will not have to look elsewhere, as _Professor_ Umbridge here lacks the authority-“

 

         “A far greater authority, and influence, than you could ever hope to achieve!”

 

         Professors McGonagall and Umbridge continued to shout at each other as Harry carefully backed his chair out of the way of any possible spell fire that could erupt. They both appeared to have forgotten his presence entirely, which was interesting, if only because it was he they were arguing over. Only, maybe not, as Professor Dumbledore’s name occurred with increasing regularity in their arguments.

 

         He glared down at the pamphlets that had been thrust into his hands at the beginning of this meeting. Keeping more than half an eye on the arguing duo, he began to half-heartedly filp through them, searching for any jobs listed not employed by the ministry of magic. There were, surprisingly, quite a few more options than he had initially thought. None of those options really caught his interest as something he would like to do, but it was re-assuring to know that they were out there. Things weren’t quite as dire as he had thought.

 

         The argument went on, and he was actually beginning to get a little upset about this. It was supposed to be his career counseling session. While it was great that Professor McGonagall was standing up for him, they’d only covered one job idea, and even that had been mostly shot down. He wasn’t to certain, but the ICW angle seemed to consist of – Professor Dumbledore could force someone overseas to hire him.

 

         Harry’s attempt to insert “Professor, maybe…” was promptly over-run with “Exactly! Maybe the Minister will find that he does not have nearly the influence overseas that he believes he does!” Which brought the argument back around again. This was going nowhere, rapidly.

 

         “What about a different career?” He spoke up, interrupting the utterly un-related argument. “I mean, I’d like to be an Auror, but Hermione insists that I should keep my options open, and I had a couple other ideas.”

 

         That shut them up. Professor Umbridge was heaving as if she had just run a marathon. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand was glaring as if the power of her hatred could force Umbridge to burst into flames. But at least with his interruption both of them remembered that there was still a student in the room.

 

         Professor McGonagall visibly gathered herself together before stiffly addressing him. “Mr. Potter, a second option will not be necessary. I have informed you that I will assist you in becoming an Auror, and so I will. Further discussion on this subject will not be necessary. It is, however, the end of your assigned session, and I believe that you have a class that you will be late to if you do not leave promptly.”

 

         Harry looked back and forth between the two furious Professors and rapidly came to the conclusion that he was not going to be able to get any more advice out of this session. Or any future sessions, if the stiff set of Professor McGonagall’s spine was any indication.

 

         That left only one thing that he could say. “Yes Professor.” He mumbled, gathering his bag and the pamphlets he would probably have otherwise abandoned. He left the classroom in a growing rage. He hadn’t really had any of his questions answered. Most of the information Professor McGonagall had discussed with him was printed on the dark green Auror pamphlet he had already read.

 

         Harry ducked into a side-hall, and forced himself to calm down. The next was Defense, and he couldn’t afford to show up in a temper. Not with Professor Umbridge as riled up as she already was. That was a recipe for a disaster that he did not need.

 

         Alright, time to consider his options. Working for the Ministry of Magic would probably not be possible, despite Professor McGonagall’s avowed support. Quidditch was a possible back-up plan, but it had inherent flaws. If the Minister really did decide to blackball him, and he would really only be playing quidditch if he was blackballed, well, he would never make it on the National Team – never play at the pinnacle of the sport.

 

         That really only left his half-way considered third option. Granted, it was still possible that he could become an Auror. It was just looking increasingly unlikely. He’d keep working towards it, but it wouldn’t hurt anything to have another plan in place if it failed.

 

         He could… he could talk to Sirius about it. Sirius was from an old pureblood family, and would have an idea about what a legal job like that would entail. And he could ask Hermione. She had probably dug up a ton of information on the subject since he’d brought it up the other evening. She hadn’t had her session with Professor McGonagall yet, so if he asked nicely she might even be able to get information for him from the Professor. Her session would probably be much more productive anyway, what with the lack of Umbridge attending.

 

         That decided, he headed off to Defense with a clear mind. He might not have gotten a lot of advice out of his career meeting, but he had certainly learned a lot. And, come to think of it, he’d also been the most mature at the meeting too. Maybe these adult decisions wouldn’t be so terrifyingly difficult after all. Maybe.

 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

         Hermione managed to corner him slightly before lunch the next day. “Well?” She hissed as she pulled him in to an empty classroom, Ron trailing behind. “Did you talk to Sirius? What did he say?”

 

         “Did he say anything about Snape’s lessons, mate?” Ron added in, settling himself on to one of the dusty chairs clustered to one side of the room.

 

         “I, um, actually didn’t get a chance to tell him about that.” Harry replied. “I mean, I mentioned it briefly, but I was more focused on, well… I didn’t get the chance to tell you about my career meeting- and that sort of ties in to the whole story.”

 

         Hermione let out a gusty sigh. “Well, there’s no helping it now, I suppose. Whatever did you discuss then, and how does it tie in with yesterday’s meeting with Professor McGonagall? Oh! Did you talk to her about Professor Snape ending your occlumency lessons? Ron is right- that is the really important topic here.”

 

         Harry checked off one of those mental checklist items. Trust Hermoine to be more concerned about extra lessons, even if they were Harry’s extra lessons. “Let me start at the beginning here. You know that Umbridge was at my career meeting yesterday. When I started to list the jobs I was interested in, you know, Auror, Child Advocacy, Quidditch – well, I didn’t manage to get past Auror before she blew up.”

 

         “What do you mean ‘blew up’? Because if you did the same thing you did to your aunt, then I hope you got pictures this time.” Ron couldn’t help himself, and was clearly picturing a pink toad floating out the window.

 

         “No, she just got really upset, going on about how I could never qualify, not with my defense grades.”

 

         “Oh Harry – do you think she’s grading you that way deliberately? Sabotaging your grades so your chances are limited? That’s horrible!”

 

         Harry grinned- yep, Hermione definitely had her priorities in order. Classes and grades first. “No, well yes, but Professor McGonagall says it doesn’t matter in the end. She – Professor McGonagall – got really disdainful- looked at Umbridge like she was a 5 year old throwing tantrum. Then she went on about how I’d need to improve my potions grade, but she thought I could do it if I tried.   Both of them kept going at it though, and they ended up spending most of my session flat-out yelling at each other. I didn’t even get the chance to bring up any other career ideas; Professor McGonagall shot me down when I tried. She claimed I wouldn’t need a backup plan, because she would do whatever it took to see me qualified as an Auror.” He grimaced, trying to find the right way to phrase the next part.

 

         “I mean I’m happy, really, that Professor McGonagall stood up for me like that. It’s great to know that she supports me. But I really only want to become an Auror because of Voldemort, and I’m starting to wonder about, you know, after.” He paused, then quietly, “I don’t think I want to be fighting for the rest of my life.”

 

         “Harry!” Hermione leaned over to give him a brief hug. “Of course you should have options other than Auror! I looked in to it, you know, after you mentioned the idea the other day. It’s actually rather fascinating…” She trailed off as they both noticed Ron watching them with a rather poleaxed expression.

 

         “But I thought you wanted to be an Auror, mate. And McGonagall will make it happen despite the toad. And we’ll go in to Auror training together, and be field partners. Why would you want to do something else?”

 

         “Harry and Hermione exchanged concerned glances. “Ron? I thought you wanted to be a quidditch player? For the Chudley Cannons?” Hermione asked, somewhat delicately. Ron hadn’t brought up the idea of being an Auror at all prior to this.

 

         “Well, yeah, but that’s only part of the year. When it’s not quidditch season I’ll be an Auror. Then I can switch over entirely once I retire from Quidditch.” Ron nodded to himself, looking quite assured in this plan. “And there’s no way the Aurors would turn down the boy-who-lived anyway, so you’re set. I don’t see why you have to have a backup anything, it’s just Hermione’s paranoia.”

 

         Harry’s jaw almost dropped, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Hermione have the opposite reaction. Her jaw set, and he could see her eyes begin to blaze. Calling her planning and preparation obsession paranoid was poking the dragon. Ron seemed to realize this too, as he went over what he just said in his mind, and paled slightly in the face of Hermione’s growing rage.

 

         He was saved, however, by Ginny sticking her head in to the room. “Hey! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” She said, walking into the room, directly over to their chair cluster. “I was going to grab you for some extra flying before quidditch practice.” She was looking straight at Harry, but apparently talking to her brother, and somehow remaining oblivious of the tension running through the room.

 

         Or maybe not, as Harry caught her glancing between Ron’s slightly panicked expression and Hermione’s restrained fury. Harry found himself relieved by both her bravery in walking in to this situation, and by her attempt to divert the eminent explosion of tempers. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he could handle another screaming fight around him so soon after yesterday’s.

 

         “Yes!” Ron exclaimed, taking the out he was given. “I really should go, you know get my gear for practice. Last game of the season you know, against Ravenclaw. Have to practice.” He practically fled the room before anything else could be said. Ginny, however, simply settled in to his spot, clearly with no intention of going anywhere.

 

         “I don’t think he meant it.” Harry commented as the door thudded closed behind Ron. “He just hasn’t thought his career choices through, and thinks he can have all of his dream jobs at the same time. Planning has never really been one of his strengths, you know.”

 

         Hermione huffed out an agreement, taking a moment to center herself. “Yes, I suppose so. I don’t know how he can think that though- he hasn’t done any of the extra studies for potions at all.” She ended a little acidly.

 

         Well, that was one argument averted Harry thought to himself. Although, it might not be a good sign for the trio’s friendship if Ron’s choice for avoiding an argument was a physical retreat.

 

         “So you talked to Sirius about career options instead?” Hermione asked.

 

         It took Harry a moment to catch on to where that had come from. Right. Back to the previous discussion before they had gotten side-tracked. “Yeah, well mostly.” He said. “I did mention that Snape ended his lessons and I wanted to talk him about that, and my Dad and everything, but the career meeting was still at the front of my mind. We ended up talking mostly about that instead.”

 

         He sighed, a little upset about this next part. “He wasn’t all that thrilled about it, honestly. Apparently both he and my dad were Aurors together in the last war, and be wants me to follow after dad. He didn’t, well, he said that there was a NEWT level law class available on special request, but it costs extra because they have to hire an extra tutor for it. And- he didn’t sound like it was really an option. He kept going on about how being an Auror would help me fight against Voldemort.”

 

         Ginny had a slight furrow in her brow, probably trying to catch up on the conversation, but Hermione looked flummoxed for a moment- like she couldn’t understand why an adult would discourage extra classes.

 

         “Oh. Well, I think it sounds fascinating. Did you know that most upper level ministry positions require a background in law? Besides, I would think that Auror, being law enforcement, would only benefit from having taken a legal course. Did he say how much the course cost? I have to wonder why it’s not on the official course list. Do you think there are more courses we could be taking that we simply don’t know about? Oh, I’ll have to see if there’s a full list anywhere. I bet I can ask Professor McGonagall for one at my career meeting with her.”

 

         Harry let out a relieved laugh before responding. “I don’t know, but Sirius implied that it was only worth it if multiple people were taking the course. I told him I’d be stopping by Gringotts as soon as summer break to get a vault statement. If I can afford it then I’m going to take the extra class anyway. I like the idea of having another career option open to me. Besides, I’m not my dad, and I’m not going to do things just because he did. Both Sirius and Snape need to learn that I’m not him.”

 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

         It was the day after Harry had completed the last of his OWLs testing that Headmaster Dumbledore (ex-headmaster? Temporarily not-the-headmaster? Whatever…) arranged a clandestine meeting with him in the deputy headmistress’s office. Professor McGonagall greeted him at the office door, then made an excuse about overseeing a detention. Which left him alone in the office with headmaster Dumbledore.

        

         Harry had more than a slight idea what this meeting was going to be about. His dreams had only become more vivid after Snape’s lessons had stopped. In fact, the previously empty hallway of his visions now featured a captured Sirius being tortured by the Dark Lord’s minions. That particular variation had first shown up shortly after he’d completed his history OWL. He’d just put his head down for a moment before he was immersed in the horrifying vision. It hadn’t been convincing though, as Sirius had spent the last few weeks buried in his old school journals, digging out choice tidbits to send Harry. Sirius was convinced that if he sent Harry enough of these Harry would come around to the idea that becoming an Auror would be the only way to go. His godfather was simply to distracted to go traipsing around mysterious ministry hallways.

 

         “Ah, Harry!” The professor exclaimed, as Harry nervously sat himself down across from the desk that dominated the room. “My boy, how have you been?”

 

         Harry shrugged.   As much as he had wanted to talk to the professor earlier in the year, now it was kind of pointless. Umbridge had done her damage, and was now in charge of the school. Anything the ex-headmaster had to say now was, well, a day late and a galleon short. Besides, Harry just knew that Dumbledore probably wanted him to resume Occlumency lessons with professor Snape.

 

         The headmaster hummed to himself, eyes twinkling fiercely as he considered Harry’s sullen posture. Harry found that he didn’t appreciate any of this. The headmaster had ignored him the entire year; had allowed Umbridge to torture him as she ran rampant throughout the school, and had actively encouraged Snape’s persistant mental attacks. All in all, Harry wasn’t feeling particularly charitable towards the man. If Dumbledore thought he was going to agree to any further lessons with Snape, the he had another thing coming.

 

         “We will have to keep this brief, my boy, as I believe that I am not technically supposed to be in the castle at the moment.”

 

         “Yes sir.” Harry replied, with nothing better to say, and now unsure as to why the headmaster had arranged this meeting. OWLs were finished yesterday, the 7th years had 2 more days of NEWTs testing, and then the day after that everyone boarded the Hogwarts Express. All Dumbledore had to do was wait 3 days and he’d be able to speak to Harry without the hassle of secretly entering a supposedly secure castle.

 

         “I’ve had several highly concerned people contact me about your summer plans, you see.”

 

         Wait – what!?! He hadn’t told anyone about his plans to leave the Dursleys. He’d sent Hedwig off yesterday with the necessary ministry paperwork – without anyone the wiser. Now startled and concerned, Harry paid much closer attention to exactly what Dumbledore was saying.

 

         “I feel it would be for the best if you did not take the train home this year. We still do not know what Voldemort is planning, and I, that is, the order, have decided that it is far to great a risk. Instead Auror Moody and Mr. Weasley will pick you up from the school on Friday morning, and escort you directly to Privet Drive. It is for your own safety my boy. I must ask that you do not leave your relatives until the wards are fully charged, at which time several members of the order will conduct you to headquarters. You will be able to spend the rest of the summer there with your friends.” Dumbledore finished this announcement with a final sounding “I trust you understand the severity of this situation?”

 

         This was sounding extremely familiar to Harry. Straight to the Durlseys, do not pass go, do not collect **£** 200\. Then escorted to headquarters for the final few weeks of summer. Doubtless someone else would be gathering his school supplies for him. Communicating with his friends would probably be restricted too. All of which prompted the question.

 

         “Will I be able to stop by Diagon Alley on the way? I have to go by Gringotts for some money for next year’s school supplies.” Harry thought this was quite clever, and, well, perhaps not as subtle as it could have been, but it would certainly clarify exactly what sort of prison sentence this would be.

 

         “Ah- no I’m afraid not. It is simply too much of a risk. You may give your key to Mr. Weasley though. I’m sure he would be able to make a withdrawal for you, and purchase any items you might need.” Dumbledore smiled beatifically, as if this would solve all Harry’s problems. He then shifted his weight as if about to stand, and Harry quickly replied before Dumbledore could end the meeting right there.

 

         “But that won’t work, sir. I need to get an account statement from the Goblins, and they certainly won’t give that information to Mr.Weasley!”

 

         “Ah, whatever would you need that for? I assure you, your parents left you more than enough- you have seen your vault yourself. There is certainly no need for you to shoulder any other burdens until after you leave Hogwarts. You have far too much on your mind as it is, my dear boy.”

 

         Harry stared at Dumbledore incredulously. “You want to protect me from the burden of knowing my own finances?” Professor Dumbledore sighed, and Harry pressed on- “No, let me get this straight- you don’t want me to go to Diagon Alley, the main shopping district in wizarding England. Because it is apparently too dangerous. And you don’t want me to inquire at Gringotts because knowing how much money I have would be ‘to great a burden’?”

 

         Dumbledore let out a weary sigh, his whole body seeming to convey just how exhausted he had suddenly become. “Harry, there were many more Death Eaters who escaped justice after the last war than you might think. The dark supporters will not do much public damage now, as they are still building strength. However if you were to wander in front of them, unprotected, you would present far too tempting of a target. No, I’m afraid that visiting Diagon Alley before returning to your relatives is far to dangerous a proposition.”

 

         “And Gringotts?” Harry pressed, not willing to give up on this point, as it seemed to be the most in-explicable of the lot. Protection was one thing, but this smelt of flat out interference. Or perhaps manipulation, although he hated to think of Dumbledore in that light. Then again, Harry had studied enough of the workings of the Wizengamut to understand that anyone who made it to the position of High Warlock would have to be a consummate politician.

 

         “My dear boy, your parents would not want this for you. You are still far to young to concern yourself with such things. They loved you very much, you know, and arranged for such things to be managed for you until you are old enough.” With that said, Dumbledore excused himself, and left the study, ending the meeting with Harry’s assumed consent to his plans.

 

         Harry, on the other hand sat there stunned for several minutes. This was far beyond simply controlling his living situation. The forms he had sent to the ministry yesterday would do no good at all if Dumbledore was interfering to the extent he’d just implied. This was, this could get really ugly rather quickly if Dumbledore was going to enforce his decisions with or without Harry’s consent.

 

         Suddenly things from his childhood came in to focus with hideous clarity. Like a keliodoscope switching shapes, pieces started falling together in a previously unseen manner. He’d showed up to primary school in a fairly wealthy neighborhood with rags for clothes hanging off a far too thin and bruised form. Child services should have been called. The policeman who found him wandering in the park after dark and had grown concerned with his answers about his home life- the one that never did anything to follow up on that. Multiple accidental magic events that never resulted in the accidental magic squad responding. Even Madam Pomphrey’s scans each time he ended up in the hospital wing, which should have showed something wrong with his home life. And yet nothing was ever done.

 

         He might be blowing things out of proportion, he reassured himself. It might not be as bad as he was now thinking. But even then he couldn’t quite manage to convince himself. One thing was certain- there was no way he was managing to fall asleep tonight, he suddenly had far too much to think about.

 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

         He was right about that too. By the time breakfast rolled around he was still wide awake, and found himself sitting grumpily at the Griffindor table as his housemates shuffled in, only half-awake themselves. Harry had come to a couple of unpleasant conclusions last night, after he’d worked his way through his initial fury and panic. The first of these was the most difficult.

 

         The fact was, any of Dumbledore’s past actions or in-actions on Harry’s childhood were irrelevant, at least for now. Reality was that none of it was prove able, it was all pure speculation. Maybe his teachers had been be-spelled into ignoring the Dursley’s neglect, but maybe they were just blinded by their own prejudices. Dumbledore might have sent Hagrid to give Harry a limited view of the wizarding world and his place in it, or he could have just sent the only available staff member. At this point there was really no way to know which events were orchestrated and which were happenstance, and no way to do anything about it either way. Dumbledore might have stacked the deck, or he might not have, but Harry would have to play with the cards he had now. It was frustrating and infuriating in more than one way, but that was the way that it was.

 

         The flip side of this was that the last-of-line clause that he was invoking was actually designed for just this type of situation; an orphaned heir in the custody of someone who did not necessarily have his best interests in mind. If the ministry approved it, which legally they had to, then he would have both legal and financial independence from any who would try to control him. Given the ministry’s current hate-on for Dumbledore, his independence became much more likely. He had actually chosen the perfect out for this situation, even if he had been un-aware of it at the time.

 

         Thinking that one all the way through had taken him into the early hours of the morning. He really had only wanted to focus on the things in his life that were not quite right. All of those things in his life that didn’t quite add up suddenly nagged at him. He was still a teenager after all, and it was his god-given right to angst, and angst he had. But even he could only muse depressingly over the wrongs done to him for so long before he had to continue on to the other topic he truly wanted to avoid.

 

         At the beginning of the meeting, Dumbledore had said that several people had brought concerns to him over Harry’s plans. With what Harry now suspected about Dumbledore’s role in his life, the implications of this tidbit became particularly painful.

 

         He had only mentioned going by Gringotts to three people. Sirius, Hermione, and Ginny were the only ones who knew about that idea of his. By the sound of it, more than one of them had taken that information to Dumbledore. Sirius could have mentioned it in casual conversation at Headquarters, but neither Hermione or Ginny had any reason to be communicating with the man who wasn’t even at Hogwarts anymore. He hadn’t told them to keep it a secret, but on the other was there was no way for it to have casually made it’s way to Dumbledore. It wasn’t the type of information that would have been passed on in normal conversation either. No, this had to have been deliberately reported to him. Which meant that one of his friends was spying on him for Dumbledore. He couldn’t eliminate Ron either, despite not being there for the conversation, he could have heard about it from either Hermione or Ginny.

 

         Harry was grateful that he had long ago stopped telling his friends every time he thought he had found a way to escape the Dursleys. The possibilities kept being dead-ends, and he had lost interest in telling them every time he had found another one. He had been planning on letting them know as soon as he had the ministry response on this one. That hesitation was paying off now. Nobody knew that he had located the last-of-line clause, much less that he was using it. Whoever it was that was reporting back to Dumbledore would have no idea that this was happening.

 

         The earliest risers from Griffindor were just settling in at the table as he finally resolved his second conclusion. He couldn’t fully trust those around him. Not his friends and not Sirius. Oh, they were still his friends, and he could still talk to them, but some things would have to be held back. He wouldn’t be able to tell any of them about his summer plans until they were already underway. None of them could know about the escape from the Dursleys until it was a done deal. This was going to suck, at least until he knew for certain which one was leaking information to Dumbledore and why.

 

         He pulled himself out of his gloomy thoughts as Hermione, always an early riser approached. “Morning Harry, you’re up early today.” She greeted as she joined him.

 

         “Yeah, couldn’t sleep.” He responded, knowing that she would assume it was because of dreams, not heavy thoughts.

 

         She didn’t though, apparently her thoughts were going in a different direction all together. “I know. I was up early checking my ancient runes references. I’m certain that I got that question about Algiz wrong. I’m going to be worrying about it for half the summer until we get our results.”

 

         And that was all it took to break the rest of Harry’s depressed mood. It was so typically Hermione, and yet, “I know. I’ve been worried about my potions grade. It was easier without Snape looming, but it was still nervewracking. I really need to be able to get into NEWTs potions.”

 

         “Honestly, are you two actually talking about your OWLs, still? How could you? Don’t you have better things to be discussing, like what are you doing this summer? The break starts in two days, you know!” Lavender interrupted as she slid in next to Hermione.

 

         With that interruption Harry finally fully relaxed. He could do this. He could maintain his friendships without telling them everything. It would be good practice for later in life anyway.   If he was truly going to become a lawyer, then he would have to be able to keep secrets, even from his best friends. He listened to Hermione speak enthusiastically about her family’s planned vacation to France, and how she would be back in London by early August.

 

         “And you, Harry? What are your plans?” Lavender asked as Hermione finished her summer schedule.

 

         “Ah, I’ll be with my relatives for most of the summer.” He frowned at the thought of that actually happening. “I suppose I might visit friends later in the summer though. We’ll have to see, I guess.” He shrugged, unwilling to elaborate further.

 

         “Well that’s perfectly dull. Boys! There are so many things to do, and you’d be content to hang around and play Quidditch all summer!”

 

         “Lavender? Harry’s relatives are Muggles, remember? I doubt he’ll be playing Quidditch.” Hermione diverted her. Which worked, as Lavender turned back to Hermione to continue the conversation with her instead.

 

         “Oh, honestly. Football then. Whatever. Did I tell you about my plans with Parvati?”

 

         Lavender looked about to start in on fashion, or something equally un-interesting, when Ron finally arrived, looking only half awake. Harry quickly diverted his attention from Lavender and Hermione’s discussion of … something.

 

         “Morning.”

 

         “Morning. Paper here yet?”

 

         Harry laughed- Ron rarely actually read the paper. He was likely only looking for one thing. “Nope- but I hear Puddlemere lost. Dreadfully. It was apparently quite the rout.”

 

         “Damn” Yep, that was the information that Ron was looking for. He appeared much more awake and was scarfing down breakfast at an alarming rate. He’d also timed his entrance quite well, because the morning post began arriving shortly after that.

 

         The cover of the Prophet announced Puddlemere’s loss in flashing print, thoroughly distracting Ron as Harry mail, one of which bore a Ministry seal. And then all of a sudden Harry was nervous all over again. He’d only sent his letter off yesterday, after the last of his OWLS and before his meeting with Dumbledore. That was far too short a time for a decision to have been made.

 

         He carefully checked his friends, Ron was absorbed in the Quidditch article, and Hermione was turned away, still talking to Lavender. He cracked the seal on the letter, too impatient to wait as he probably should, and opened the letter as discretely as he could, making sure it was angled so no one else could see it.

 

         It was a form letter; that much was immediately obvious. ‘We have received your application’, ‘in light of your circumstances’, ‘having reviewed the relevant laws’; all the standard meaningless phrases used to fill up space in an official letter. Then at the end, the crucial statement – ‘Approved without further review’. Appropriate paperwork was attached behind it.

 

         Some ministry flunky had received his application yesterday afternoon shortly before the end of the work day. Uninterested in anything beyond the proper information being present, they’d pulled his file and made sure that all the information matched, with all forms filled out fully and completely. They’d then rubber-stamped the application, and sent it to their out-box. Feeling unusually productive, they’d then left for the day, with no further thought to the paperwork they had just processed.

 

         Harry only barely kept the grin off his face as he quickly folded the letter back up and slipped it into his bag. Approved! It didn’t matter if Dumbledore insisted on order members accompanying him back to the Dursleys. As a legal adult Harry was now fully capable of using magic outside of school, and determining his own place of residence. He could let them escort him there and then leave shortly thereafter. Even if someone managed to track him down they would not be able to force him to go anywhere he did not want to- not without facing kidnapping charges.

 

         Nobody else would have any say in his finances, they could not interfere with his Gringotts account at all. And if he decided to take an optional NEWTs law class next year, well, they wouldn’t be able so say anything to stop it.

 

         He’d have to be careful though. He couldn’t let anyone catch on to what he was doing until he was completely free. But after that- his life from here on out was his to decide. It was the best possible outcome, really. He couldn’t wait to hear people’s responses later this summer as they realized exactly what had happened.

 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

         Harry arrived at Platform 9 ¾ early. The station was still mostly deserted, with only a few families scattered near the front of the train. He took the opportunity to select an empty mid-size compartment about half way back along the train, on the far side so he was not easily visible from the main platform. As he settled in to for the wait he considered the last few months.

 

         The summer vacation had been the best he’d ever experienced. He had spent it travelling around England, staying in youth hostels and at camping sites. At one point he had spent 2 weeks at one that was directly on the beach, which, while as chilly as any other beach in Britain was still a highly enjoyable experience. He had managed to see more of England this summer than in his entire 15 years previous.

 

         It was more than slightly ironic that it had taken until most of the way through July before the order had realized that he was no longer at his relative’s house. The sudden bombardment of owls demanding to know his location and remonstrating him for leaving the security of the Dursleys had taken him by surprise. It certainly didn’t say much about the guards they’d apparently stationed at Privet Drive that they still couldn’t isolate when exactly he’d left (within 15 minutes of arrival).

 

         He’d been particularly disappointed in Sirius and Ron, whose furious letters had hurled curses and invectives at him for leaving without notifying them. He hadn’t bothered to reply. In fact, the only letters he had responded to at all had been Hermione’s. She had written in that initial flurry, ad then steadily after that, expressing concern for his well being, the state of his studies, and if he would be willing to tell her of his summer thus far.

 

         He had also received several notices from the Goblins of various members of the order attempting to access his vaults, including Sirius and Dumbledore. None of them had received access, however all of them had expressed confusion as to why their expired key did not work. The goblins themselves were incapable and unwilling to retrieve any of the monies previously withdrawn by Dumbledore, as he had been fully within his rights as Magical Guardian to do so at the time. It wasn’t a terribly large sum that had been removed. Certainly not compared to the remaining amount in the vault. It was probably exactly enough to count as regular child-support payments even. The fact that it had been removed at all was highly annoying for Harry. Just another item on the list that he couldn’t – quite – catch Dumbledore on.

 

         His OWL scores had also arrived, less than a week after the order had discovered him missing. His scores had been, overall, fairly decent. He’d achieved Outstanding in Defense, History, and Charms; with Exceeds Expetations in most of his other classes. The only one he was truly disappointed in was Potions, where he’d gotten an Acceptable. Professor McGonagall’s accompanying letter had given no indication that any strings had been pulled to get him placement in the class, so he had largely given up on the idea of becoming an Auror. Harry was rather certain that this was going to become a major issue between Sirius and himself, but the man was going to eventually have to accept that Harry was not simply a younger copy of James.

 

         Class enrollment for the upcoming semester had been promptly returned to Professor McGonagall, and he had included the NEWT level law class, and a one-semester class on ward construction, which had been on the expanded list of classes that Hermione had dug up. After quite a bit of back and forth with the Professor (Yes, he did mean to sign up for those extra classes, yes he was aware of the extra fees involved for the law class, yes he knew neither was needed for becoming an Auror) he had discovered that the law class would not be quite as expensive as anticipated- there would be 3 other students from his year taking the course and therefore splitting the fee.

 

         It had become clear, over the last few weeks, that Dumbledore was not taking his loss of control over Harry at all gracefully. Various articles in the paper documented Dumbledore’s attempts to pass laws regarding the care/control of heir of ancient houses. None of his bills had made it past the conservative voting block. Harry’s use of the end-of-line clause had not yet made it into the paper, but he kind of figured that it was only a matter of time. Reporters were already digging in to the cause of Dumbledore’s recent spate of bills.

 

         It would be interesting to see, in the months to come, exactly what the wizarding rumor mill made of Harry’s new distance from the Headmaster. Whatever it was, Harry was certain of one thing- he would no longer simply be a pawn in this game. He had started to make moves of his own, and life would only become more difficult and dangerous from here on out. His freedom was worth the price though, of that one thing he was sure.

        

 

 

        

**Author's Note:**

> So- this is the first story that I have completed and posted. Please be gentle?


End file.
